Archive of Our Own

Two months ago Jonathan Toews lead his Blackhawks to their third Stanley Cup victory in six years.

They won it, they really did.

Not only that, but they won it at home in front of a sold out United Center, packed to the brim with their amazing, insane, out of this world fans banging on the glass and screaming for their victory.

Jonny couldn't ever remember feeling more alive than when he was lifting The Cup to the incredible cheers from their fans, surround by his team, in their madhouse.

Two months later it was Jonny's Cup Day. Not even the stifling heat of August in Chicago could put a damper on how ecstatic everyone around him was, and he wanted that. He wanted everyone to be happy and excited, and he wanted to be happy right along with them.

He wanted to raise The Cup above his head again, smile for everyone who came to see it. He had been living in Chicago for almost eight years; it was just as much his home as Winnipeg these days. When he choose to have his Cup day in Chicago instead of back home in Canada, he was making that choice based solely on the fact that his other two Cup Days were in Winnipeg and he felt like Chicago deserved a day to have The Cup paraded around to hospitals and fire stations and anywhere else that it could lift the spirits of the fans who supported them.

He wanted to be happy, but he couldn't.

Every time he looked at the shiny surface of the trophy that was the envy of everyone in the National Hockey League, that thirty teams lusted over for nine months out of their lives; that they gave up time with their wives, their kids, their people for.

Every time he looked at it, all he saw in the reflection was a pair of sparkling blue eyes, dimples, and a crooked smile.

How had Buffalo New York, of all places, fucked him up so bad?

****

It all started with Patrick Sharp as most things that Jonny wasn’t expecting in his life did.

The team was in Buffalo for a game against the Sabres in mid-November. It was a snow job on their part. When the score got to six to one in favor of the Blackhawks, Jonny actually felt kind of bad. He didn't go easy on them at all after that, but he still felt kind of bad.

They won by a large margin and went off to celebrate in a dingy, but comfortable enough, bar where they hopefully wouldn't be recognized by too many irate Sabre's fans.

Jonny was enjoying the peaceful environment, tuning in and out of conversations going on around him. He was warm, his team was around him and safe, and they just won a game.

Everything was basically perfect, and that's when Sharpy had to ruin it.

"Hey Tazer," Jonny heard from somewhere off to his left. They were in a booth at the back of the bar and Jonny was tucked into one of the last spots on the inside. By the mischievous tone and snickers around the table, Jonny knew it was Sharpy before he even turned his way.

"What do you want Sharpy?" Jonny groused, kind of regretting whatever was about to happen which was the most familiar feeling when it came to Patrick Sharp.

"Two things," Sharpy continued when Jonny turned to address him. His ever present smirk was on his face, and Jonny groaned internally; or maybe he did that out loud based on the smiles Steeger and Seabs were sharing on either sides of Sharpy. "Oh calm down Captain Serious, it's not that bad."

"What did you do?" Jonny grumbled, already preparing himself for the worst.

"Jonathan Toe-ez, I am appalled that you would even-" Sharpy stopped with whatever came next on the ‘Sharpy loves to make Tazer angry while simultaneously making them all regret the day they gave him the 'A'’ game. "Alright, alright there aren't any leads on the case of the missing toothpaste, and you have an admirer."

The case of the missing toothpaste was Sharpy's attempt at getting Jonny riled up about the fact that him and probably Shawzy had taken his toiletry bag and scattered it all over the floor of the hotel where they were staying. Jonny had spent the better part of that very morning trying to find everything from his bag, and he did, he found everything except his toothpaste. His special toothpaste that helped with tooth sensitivity and Sharpy knew that, the asshole.

Jonny was beyond being angry at Sharpy whenever he did stuff like that, especially when they were coming off of a three game losing streak. Jonny knew the reason that Sharpy even pulled those stupid pranks on him was for the good of team morale, because there's nothing like collectively sharing in the Captain's embarrassment, and also for the good of Jonny himself.

Jonny knew that he could sometimes be 'Captain Serious' and everyone had their own way of dealing with how Jonny just was sometimes. Seabs was the best at, being Jonny's mentor and all. Seabs and then Duncs, who usually just sat down next to Jonny in whatever locker room they were in and started sharing inane, but also frankly quite terrifying facts about the history of serial killers who had once lived in whatever city they were in. Hossa commiserated with Tazer by staying after with him at practice, helping him get certain plays down to a 'T'.

Shawzy and Saader had their ways, but the most annoying and simultaneously the most effective was Sharpy. Who seemed to think that Jonny didn't ever have enough to deal with in life, or that Jonny was never pranked as a child and therefore he had to make up for that.

Jonny appreciated it he really did, but he needed that toothpaste. He couldn't go to sleep without brushing his teeth, and he couldn't use that shitty hotel stuff because, hello, sensitive teeth; the entire reason for the special toothpaste.

Jonny smiled without moving his eyes to give Sharpy that dead eyed smirk that he'd been told made him look like a serial killer, by several people. "That's alright Sharpy, I'll just go get more."

The calm approach was met with appreciative noises made around the table and a smattering of claps. That's right bitches, Jonathan Toews was growing up.

Sharpy didn't let that deter him. "But whatever will you do with disgusting breath when you go over and talk to Blue Eyes?"

Blue Eyes? Who?

Sharpy jerked his head to the front of the bar where the whole booth had a clear view of the two bartenders that were mixing drinks and talking to the small crowd in front of their bar. Out of the African American women in the suit pants and suspenders, and the curly haired blond guy with the pushed up sleeves and two buttons open at his collar; Jonny knew who Sharpy was talking about the second Curly hair turned and flashed the brightest blue eyes that Jonny had ever seen, briefly in their direction.

Jonny felt his breath stutter when he met those eyes for a split second. Jonny didn't even know if he was breathing at all by the time Curly hair turned away to address someone else at his bar.

Jonny prayed to every deity that he knew in hopes that none of the guys could make out the blush he was positive was invading his face. It was a dark bar, nobody could see him, it was fine. Jonny glared at Sharpy for a second before dropping his gaze to the beer in his hand.

He wasn't embarrassed about the fact that it was a guy, or the fact that the guys knew. In fact he was grateful that they knew that they could joke about stuff like that with him. When he came out in his third year on the team, second year of being Captain, he was a little worried about what the guys might do. He shouldn't have been, they all seemed to be cool with it, and Jonny kind of loved them for it.

Jonny just didn't like being caught off guard. He knew the guys thought that he was miserable most of the time because he didn't pick up as often as anyone else, the guys on the team who were married nonwithstanding, Jonny was probably the worst at picking up; especially in cities that weren't Chicago.

Being a two time Stanley Cup winning Champion actually went a long way, even in the gay community.

It just wasn't something he wanted to think about after such a great win. There was no way that guy, that Curly haired, gorgeous, Blue Eyed person would be even the slightest bit interested in him.

He kicked Sharpy's shin under the table in retaliation and listened to him complaining that his leg was broken with a slight smirk on his face. It was just Sharpy being Sharpy. There was no way that guy was staring at Jonny of all people.

He forgot about it soon after when conversation turned a corner. Soon enough everyone was talking about something else and Jonny didn't glance up to see if Blue Eyes really was looking at him in all that time, not once.

****

Jonny forgot about the insanely cute bartender, and everything else, until they got back to the hotel. The second they stepped back into the lobby Jonny remember that he worked with a bunch of asshole middle schoolers, and because of that, he didn't have any toothpaste.

The laughter and smiles of everyone that piled in the elevator when Jonny broke off saying he needed to go the store, was almost worth the embarrassment; Sharpy was going to be running suicides until his feet fell off at practice when they got back though.

****

Finding a convenience store near the hotel wasn't as hard as Jonny thought it was going to be. Buffalo was a big place, but compared to Chicago it felt pretty small. It did suck that they were so far up north that snow, even in early to mid-November, was a given.

That left Jonny perusing the extensive collection of the toothpaste aisle at two AM cursing out Sharpy, Shawzy, and everyone else under the sun, while his jacket dripped water onto the floor. He felt the familiar guilt that someone would have to clean that up creeping up on him, but he was almost too tired to care at that point.

His eyes skipped over brand after brand until he found the right one. After grabbing it out of the selection, Jonny made his way up to the front of the store where a bored looking teenager, who didn't seem to recognize him when he came into the store, was stacking up tic-tac containers until they fell over and then restacking them.

Jonny passed some aisles, just about making it to the checkout, when his brain stopped his feet so quick the rest of his body almost got whiplash.

There, staring up at the top shelf of the cereal aisle, a determined and highly adorable pout gracing his features that made his dimples -- gah, his dimples -- standout; was Curly Blue Eyes from the bar. His hair was even messier than it had been earlier, his collar still unbuttoned, and one sleeve was falling down his arm.

Jonny could almost feel his soul leaving his body. How could this gorgeous creature have gotten even more handsome since Jonny had seen him an hour ago?

Wait... that was suspicious.

Jonny had seen this guy an hour ago, in an establishment of a rival city, where Sharpy had pointed out that he maybe had been staring at Jonny at least long enough for some of the boys to notice.

What if this was a trap?

What if this guy was a really hardcore Sabre's fan and he wanted to lull Jonny into a distracted and lust filled daze before taking him out back and murdering him?

That wouldn't be the best, but what a way to go.

It was the thought that he was being absolutely ridiculous that propelled him to move into the cereal aisle and closer to Curly Blue Eyes. He vaguely recognized that he was now exhibiting stalker behavior, but he couldn't help it. The guy was just so damn adorable.

Jonny watched as C.B.E. (it was getting tiresome to say the whole thing in his head) screwed up his face into an even more pronounced pout, and suddenly out of nowhere jumped onto the shelf he was glare at. Jonny could feel his eyes widen in surprise and then narrow in concern. What if the shelf fell over and hurt C.B.E.? Jonny wasn't about to let that happen.

The second C.B.E. dropped back down to the ground, seemingly not having obtained the cereal he was after based on the scowl on his attractive face. Jonny moved before he knew what he was doing, and spoke before he could think of the words.

"You need some help?" He asked while trying his best to taper off any blushing on his face.

C.B.E.'s eyes immediately jumped to him, and he leaned back as if he wasn't prepared for anyone to approach him at two AM in a convenience store in the cereal aisle.

"What?" C.B.E. asked. The suspicion in his voice made sense. Why was this guy trying to talk to him in the first place? Why was Jonny trying to talk to this absolutely beautiful person in the first place? Because Jonny was a fan of pain and rejection, that's why.

Instead of repeating the question, Jonny pointed up to the top shelf where the cereal was and gestured like he was going to pick one up. The question was clear, he didn't need words to embarrass himself any further.

"Oh," C.B.E. responded. He looked from Jonny to the cereal he was eyeing and back. Jonny hadn't noticed how small the guy was when they were in the bar. From how far away the booth was to the bar it looked like C.B.E. was probably around the same height as Jonny, but being as close as he was now, C.B.E was clearly several inches shorter than the Canadian, and that made Jonny realize that he might have a thing for shorter guys.

"Uh, yeah." C.B.E. pointed to one of the boxes of sugar infested monstrosities on the top shelf. "Fruit loops, please."

Jonny reached up again and plucked the fruit loops off of the shelf. He turned and handed the box to C.B.E. and was met with narrowed eyes. This was it, C.B.E. was going to recognize him and think he was a creeper, or worse recognize him and want an autograph, or worse recognize him and hate him because his team just got tromped on by Jonny's, or worse-

"Don't I know you?" C.B.E. questioned.

Jonny was caught between denying it and saving himself some awkward, or just coming right out and telling C.B.E. who he was.

"I do," C.B.E. continued. "You were at Cinema tonight, weren't you?"

Jonny screwed up his face ready to say 'no, he did not go to the movies tonight', a little disappointed that C.B.E. didn't recognize him.

"Yeah, you're 'just a beer' Grumpy Gills." C.B.E.'s mouth stretched into an impossible grin; the most beautiful thing Jonny had seen in days, and that almost distracted him from C.B.E.'s words.

"'Just a beer grumpy gills'?" Jonny repeated. He was so confused, what happened to the movies?

C.B.E. chuckled a little bit, and Jonny heard music.

"Sorry, it's just, when you ordered you looked so intense I couldn't help it." C.B.E. was staring at him and worrying his lower lip between his teeth. It did things to Jonny, things that he didn't want to deal with in a convenience store at two AM.

"The bar?" Jonny asked. He was trying to play catch up, but they went from movies to grumpy gills, and Jonny was still kind of lost in C.B.E.'s eyes.

"Yeah, Cinema. You were with a bunch of guys, it looked fun." C.B.E. smiled again after running his tongue over the spot of his lip that he had been sucking on. Jonny really hoped he wasn't staring.

"Oh, it's called Cinema." Jonny concluded after the second time C.B.E. made reference to the bar, and now that he thought of it, he did remember seeing a lot of movie posters and old fashioned popcorn machines and the like when he was stuck back in that booth trying to avoid turning a truly unattractive shade of red whenever he caught C.B.E. looking over at him from the bar.

"Yep," C.B.E. said popping the 'p' at the end of the word.

"Yeah, I was." Jonny answered awkwardly, "And so were you." He added to his immediate regret.

C.B.E. outright laughed, but Jonny didn't mind that it was at him because he liked the sound.

"Yeah, I was." C.B.E. affirmed. "Patrick."

Jonny stared at the outstretched hand that C.B- Patrick, God what a name, volunteered. He saw himself reach out and grasp that big, gentle hand. He could feel the calluses on the palm and fingers as they shook. "Jonny." He responded.

"Jonny," Patrick repeated, he looked like he was rolling Jonny's name around in his mouth, getting used to it. Jonny wanted him to get used to it. "Thanks for being my cereal superhero."

"Any day, citizen." Jonny responded with no permission from his brain.

Patrick, and God Jonny loved that name, laughed with a surprise look on his face. He nodded almost to himself and then remarked, "Good to know."

They stood there staring at each other for a second, but it wasn't weird. Jonny just couldn't look away, and it seemed like Patrick couldn't either.

"I should," Patrick finally spoke, gesturing over his shoulder.

Right, because they were still standing in the cereal aisle of a convenience store at two or three o'clock in the morning.

"Yeah," Jonny responded. He didn't want Patrick to go, he didn't want to go, but he knew he needed to get some sleep before the plane ride back to Chicago in the morning.

Patrick started to move backward and gave one last smile and an adorable little half-wave before turning around and continuing down the aisle. Jonny couldn't look away the whole time, and he was glad he didn't when Patrick looked back shyly just before disappearing around the corner.

After that it was the dazed process of making his way up to the checkout, paying for his toothpaste, and trudging back through the snow to the hotel.

He changed his clothes in a trance, packed his bag without really thinking about it, and brushed his teeth mechanically. The whole time his brain was back in the cereal aisle watching Patrick walk backward with his incredibly blue eyes, his dimples, his shy smile, and that little wave.

Jonny couldn't get the curly haired man out of his mind, but one thought occurred to him just as he was dropping off to sleep:

Patrick had absolutely no idea who he was.

****

It wasn't that Jonny had a problem with his past relationships being affected by his job. For one, whoever he was dating had to constantly deal with the fact that seven to nine months out to the year Jonny would be on the road almost every other day going God only knew where to play in a different rink all the time. And the other thing was that he thought he knew the difference between someone who wanted him for himself, and someone that wanted him for his money, or someone who wanted him for his fame.

Justin proved him wrong.

Justin had slipped into his life with quiet smiles and shared interests, and he had been so unassuming that Jonny had thought that maybe he was the real deal. One Cup win, a couple of arguments about how often Jonny was away, and some suspicious charges on Jonny's credit card later, and Justin was the worst disaster that Jonny had to live through in a long time; getting kicked out in the first round included.

So Jonny was more careful. He sought out his partners more carefully, he picked up more carefully, he did everything more carefully.

He didn't think he could handle another ‘Justin Situation’. He didn't think his team could handle another ‘Justin Situation’. He would be the first to admit that he was downright vicious when all of that was going down.

So when it came to Patrick, who Jonny couldn't stop thinking about, and his seemingly blissful ignorance as to who Jonny was, Jonny continued to be careful, because it seemed to be working for him.

They played to Sabre's three more times before the New Year. Once at home and twice in Buffalo. Somehow he convinced the guys to go out even after a loss the second time they were in Buffalo, and he thinks they only agreed because it was the first time in recorded history that Jonathan 'Captain Serious' Toews actually wanted to go out especially after a loss. No one seemed to put two and two together that every time they went out in Buffalo they always seemed to end up at Cinema.

Not even Sharpy had ribbed him about it, so he just assumed that everyone had forgotten about the first time, which he was eternally grateful for.

The times when they got to play in Buffalo, winning or losing, were the best times for Jonny because they would go out to Cinema afterward, and Jonny would get to see Patrick absolutely light up when he would catch his eye.

The second time, just before the New Year, Jonny finally got up the courage to go up to the bar and ask Patrick for his number. It was a tense moment of Patrick just staring at him before his face split into a dazzling smile while saying, "It took you long enough."

And that's how they started texting, and talking, and facetiming, and Jonny was absolutely gone over this kid.

And Patrick still had no idea who he was.

****

"I'm telling you, in an honest to God all out brawl, Batman would destroy Superman, no contest." Patrick's tiny voice could be heard through the speaker as Jonny lounged on his bed.

Jonny had just gotten off a four game road trip from California to Arizona, and the first thing he did when he got back to his place was call Patrick to continue their text conversation about who would destroy whom in a battle between Batman and Superman. Jonny was Team Boyscout, as Patrick liked to call it, and Patrick was Team Dark Knight. Jonny couldn't even remember how the conversation started, but he loved talking to Patrick so much he didn't care what they talked about.

They did talk about a lot of things though. It was kind of hard to tell Patrick anything important about his life without revealing what he did for a living, so he instead choose to go with simple topics like his parents and his brother, about what growing up in Canada had been like, and what living in Chicago was like now.

Patrick in turn told Jonny about his parents and his sisters, what growing up in Buffalo was like, and how work at Cinema was going. As it turned out Patrick wasn't only a bartender at Cinema, but also owned half of it with his sister Erica. He was so proud of their business and Jonny could tell that by how excited he got talking about a new drink that he wanted to try mixing at the bar, or about how they were thinking of expanding the business and making it into more of a franchise.

Jonny loved that Patrick was excited about what he did. He didn't tell Patrick about what he did other than that it required a lot of traveling. The most Patrick knew about Jonny on the job front was that Jonny loved hockey, which they talked about sometimes, and Jonny finally found out why Patrick knew nothing about him other than what Jonny himself had told Patrick.

Patrick didn't watch hockey. Other than the Sabre's being the home team, he had no idea about anything even remotely hockey related. It was surprisingly refreshing talking to someone who Jonny knew wouldn't have heard anything about him, or just wanted to talk to him because of what he did and not who he was.

Jonny didn't think he was doing anything differently other than conversing constantly over text or calling to Patrick, which is why he was mildly surprised when he was cornered one day after practice by Sharpy, Seabs, and Duncs. He vaguely wondered where Hossa, Crow, Hammer, and Shawzy were. They usually liked to do this kind of intervention stuff with everyone accounted for.

"What." Jonny asked, but it didn't sound like a question even to his ears.

Sharpy exchanged a look with Seabs and Duncs like he was preparing for Jonny to rabbit as soon as he got the chance. Jonny wasn't above doing just that if this conversation was going where he thought it was going.

"Hey Tazer," Sharpy started, he had that easy smile he always seemed to have on, but there was a hint of something else in his expression. "Unclench; we just wanted to check in. How ya doing?"

Jonny sent an unimpressed look at all of them. "How am I doing?" Jonny repeated. "What did you do Sharpy? And why did you guys follow his lead?"

Sharpy had the audacity to look offended and Seabs and Duncs just shrugged like, what did Jonny expect?

"I didn't do anything." Sharpy argued. "We just thought that maybe you wanted to tell us something."

Jonny was getting an uncomfortable feeling that translated into full blown panic at the thought that these three and maybe the rest of the team had finally figured out Buffalo and Patrick.

"What are you talking about?" Jonny deflected, he didn't want to have this talk with anyone let alone these three. "I don't have anything to tell you."

Seabs raised his eyebrows and then said, "We just noticed that you seemed to be on the phone a lot more than usual."

"And you seem different." Duncs added.

"Different?" Jonny asked. He didn't think he was any different.

"Yeah, less scowly." Sharpy continued. "And hell you're down right happy at practice, it's kind of nauseating."

Jonny glanced over at his phone that was beside him in his stall, he knew there were at least three messages waiting for him from Patrick, and that thought alone made him feel warm.

Patrick made him feel warm.

"We just wanted to know if anything has changed." Seabs picked up the thread of the conversation. "If there might be someone that we don't know about that's new in your life."

Jonny tore his gaze away from his phone to find the three people he considered the closest things he had ever had to older brothers staring down at him. They looked concerned, and Jonny didn't want that. There was nothing to be concerned about, it was just Patrick. Jonny had a Patrick now, and he wanted to tell them about him, but he also didn't want anything to change.

"Not really," Jonny finally answered. He knew they weren't convinced, but it seemed like they were letting it go for the time being.

"Okay," Sharpy replied, "But just know that if there was someone, anyone, we would love to meet them."

Jonny wanted to glare at him, but the sentiment was surprisingly kind. He nodded his head without saying anything, and that was their cue to disperse the intervention.

Jonny felt at peace with not telling the guys about Patrick just yet. He really didn't want anything to change, and having the guys fall all over themselves the next time they were in Buffalo to out tell each other's most embarrassing Jonny stories, would probably change a lot of things.

****

He maintained that peace through his shower, through his drive back to his condo, and through settling down on his couch where he finally had a chance to read Patrick's texts.

'Hey! Did you know that baby giraffes are the most expressive animals in the Animal Kingdom?'

Patrick was always sending him what he called, 'fun facts'. This one startled a laugh out of Jonny; Patrick could be so random at times.

The next one was still on track with, 'I really want a baby giraffe.'

The third one however completely changed the flow of the one-sided conversation.

'What are you doing?'

The first two texts came while Jonny was in the middle of practice, the last one came when it was over, by Jonny's calculations probably right as he was stepping into the showers at the UC.

'Right now, I'm at home on the couch, but when you texted that I was in the shower, I think.'

Jonny had meant it as a statement of facts, of things that had actually happened, but as soon as he pressed the send button, he wished he hadn't. He reread what he sent and could see how that text was leading in the direction of something that neither of them had really talked about.

Sure there was undeniable attraction, at least on Jonny's end, and every time he saw Patrick it seemed like there was something there for him as well, but they hadn't really talked about it.

Jonny was just about to work himself up into actual worry, when his phone chimed that he had a new message.

'Are you alone?' The text asked.

Jonny sent back an affirmation to that text before he could really understand why that was an important question.

The call that came in moments after he pressed send, almost startled the phone out of Jonny's hand.

"Hello?" He tentatively asked into the phone.

"Hey," Patrick's voice greeted him, and for a second Jonny thought that this was going to be just like any other call that they've shared countless times since they started doing this.

He was proven wrong a few moments later when he heard Patrick pant through the phone speaker, and there was absolutely no way he could have misinterpreted that noise.

"What are you doing?" Jonny asked, wanting to-- needing to confirm his thoughts.

"Thinking," Patrick answered on a slight moan, "about you."

Jonny thought his brain was going to slink out of his body and fall on its sword as soon as he heard those words. He couldn't believe this was about to happen, but he was definitely all for it.

"Oh yeah?" Jonny asked in a voice he hoped came out sexy instead of inquisitive. "What about me?"

He got up from the couch, listing to Patrick's heavy breathing through the phone, and moved to his bedroom. In preparation for Patrick's answer, he shucked the sweats he was wearing at the door. Besides that he was only sporting a worn out Blackhawk’s T-shirt and black briefs. He placed the phone on speaker beside his head and reached over to his bedside table to grab the lube from his drawer.

"Well, I was - ah, thinking about you before you texted me back, but then you... then you said you were in the shower and I just--" Patrick broke off on a low groan that went straight to Jonny's cock.

He could feel the familiar feeling of heat pooling in his stomach and the blood rushing down to lower parts at Patrick's words and the noises he made.

Jonny trailed a hand down his chest absently running his fingers here and there as he listened to Patrick over the phone.

"You just what?" Jonny asked fervently, the sound of Patrick's breathy moans making a patch of pre-come mark the front of his briefs. He trailed his hand down to his waistband toying with it a little before moving to the front; gently rubbing the head of his cock through the material. That motion brought his hips stuttering off of the bed. "You were thinking about me being in the shower? Tell me." Jonny demanded.

He heard a whimper over the phone that had him grinding his palm to his cock, desperately seeking some friction.

Another moan followed on the heels of the whimper and then a soft breath of, "Jonny, I just... I need-" Patrick broke off again, seemingly too into it to tell Jonny what he needed from him.

"What do you need baby? Tell me, I'll give it to you." Jonny finally pulled down his briefs and squirted his hand with lube so he could fully stroke his member. He was feeling hot and flushed all over his body, he was afraid if he didn't do something soon, he would completely lose it to the sound of Patrick getting off to visions of him in the shower.

Jonny could only imagine what Patrick looked like. He was probably on a bed too, just like Jonny was. Maybe he was naked, maybe he just had a shirt on. He imagined Patrick setting the phone to the side with the speaker on so he could use both hands. One to play with his hardening nipples and the other to stroke his hard cock.

A moan over the phone sent Jonny's imagination into over drive at what Patrick could be doing. Maybe he was prepping himself, or maybe he already had a toy shoved deep inside of him.

Jonny had to fist the base of his cock to stop from cumming too early at that thought. The absolutely filthy thought of Patrick with a dick filling him up; with Jonny's dick filling him up.

"Jonny, I'm... God, I wish you were here." Patrick whimpered following that statement. Jonny continued to stroke his cock only pausing to rub the head every once in a while.

"Me too baby, me too." Jonny responded. "I want to know what your pretty little hole looks like all slicked up for my cock."

Patrick outright mewled at that, and for a second the sound of his harsh pants got farther away. It was back suddenly seemingly louder than before.

Jonny's mind created the scenario where Patrick had arched up to thrust against his fist that was loosely closed around his cock, which caused his phone to shift across the bed.

He moaned at that, his strokes speeding up a little at the thought of Patrick helplessly thrusting into the air, his back arching off the bed in a beautiful curve.

"What- what else do you want to do to- ah, to me?" Patrick gasped out, his breathing coming in erratic panting now.

"God," Jonny moaned; all of things that Jonny wanted to do to Patrick filled up his mind and he couldn't pick one, he wanted to do all of them. "I just want to fill you up baby, I just want you writhing on my cock, I want to fuck you so hard you won't even remember your name."

Jonny heard Patrick's breathing stutter again after his confession and then after a few breathy 'ah's' he heard a low groan, the telltale sign of Patrick releasing all over himself.

Jonny could only imagine the beautiful mess that Patrick probably made of himself, and that thought more than anything propelled him to brutally fuck into his fist until his whole body was tensing and he was spilling all over himself as well, with Patrick's name on his lips, he kept stroking until he was too sensitive to continue.

His hand dropped to the his heaving chest, his breathing matched the still harsh breaths over the speaker of his phone.

"Oh my God," Patrick finally declared. "That was way better than I imagined."

Jonny huffed a laugh on his end, his fingers lazily trailing through the cum pooled on his stomach. "Yeah," Jonny replied, "I wish you were here too though."

Jonny reached over to his bedside table to grab a few Kleenex. He busied himself with cleaning up as his breathing finally settled.

"That's good." Patrick responded a few moments of silence that probably meant he was cleaning up too, "Because I kind of have some news."

Jonny was riding on the waves post-orgasmic bliss, and therefore was lulled into a complete sense of security and responded with, "Hm." in acknowledgment.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up, or for you to think that this was me being like a crazy stalker person, but," Patrick paused for effect, which according to his sisters could be the title of his autobiography.

That thought made Jonny laugh a little with unbridled fondness for Patrick and everything that he did. Maybe it was more than fondness, Jonny thought as he waited for Patrick to continue.

Maybe it was lo-

"I'm moving to Chicago to open a second Cinema!" Patrick exclaimed over the phone.

Jonny's fond smile slipped off his face to be replaced with startling horror.

He looked around for a second like someone was going to jump out of nowhere and shout, 'gotcha' at him, and maybe Patrick would laugh, and Jonny would laugh, and his post-orgasmic bliss wouldn't have been so unforgivably shattered.

No one jumped out, but he could hear Patrick's nervous babble pouring over the phone. Jonny hadn't said anything when Patrick had told him his news, and now he probably thought that Jonny thought he was some crazy stalker, or that he wasn't excited or something.

"Oh my God," Jonny finally responded over top of Patrick's unending stream of nervous chatter, "That's incredible, Patrick. Are you serious?"

Jonny's apparent enthusiasm turned off the stream of stuttering speech that Patrick had fallen into only to be replaced by a deep sigh of relief. Jonny kind of hated that Patrick was so nervous to tell him about this, but on his long list of things that he was about to do to Patrick, making him nervous that his boyfriend-kind of thing was freaking out about him moving to the same city, was fairly low on the 'fucked up shit' scale.

That prompted Patrick to tell him all about how him and his sister had been planning to expand, and how the timing just seemed right, and after looking at a lot of locations, Chicago had just made sense. He had volunteered to move to Chicago and oversee all of the preparations and hiring new staff and everything. He sounded so excited and that was almost enough for Jonny to forget what having Patrick moving to Chicago would mean.

Jonny couldn't forget though. He didn't like to blow his own horn, but now a days, especially with them only a few months from going on another cup run, you couldn't swing a cat in downtown Chicago without hitting a Jonathan Toews poster, or going into a store without seeing his face plastered over something saying how it was their 'One Goal' to bring The Cup back to Chicago.

Jonathan was royally screwed, he liked Patrick, a lot, and because he was too afraid of something that he couldn't control even if he tried, as soon as Patrick moved to Chicago, he was going to lose him.

****

He didn't think anything was noticeably different about his behavior at the rink or when they were on the road, but the concerned looks that some of his teammates threw his way ever so often begged to differ.

It wasn't until Jonny was out with the guys and he said something that would usually be prime chirping material fodder for Sharpy or Shawzy, and no one said anything at all, did Jonny realize that this was them being nice. It made his skin crawl that they had to be 'nice' to spare his feelings, or whatever they were doing.

On the Patrick front, they were still copacetic for the moment. While their relationship, or whatever they were, was going reasonably well with even more texting and talking over the phone than before, and the amazing times that they had repeat performances of talking each other off over the phone; Jonny's mental stability about what he was about to lose was shaky at best and downright heartbreaking at worst.

He wanted to talk to someone about it, he knew that things didn't have to blow up like he was envisioning, but everyone he wanted to turn to had no idea who he was seeing and he didn't really want to be the victim of the 'why didn't you just tell him' speech. He had already heard that tune in stereo from himself as a part of his subconscious' greatest records.

He finally broke down one day after him and Patrick had talked extensively about how many boxes were too many boxes when you were packing up to move your entirely life to different state.

He meet up with the one person who would understand why he did what he did because that person would have done the exact same thing in Jonny's position.

"Um, no I wouldn't have." Sid responded after Jonny finished telling him everything that had happened since October and why he wanted to tell Sid in the first place.

They were at a small diner in the Loop after a game, that went to shootout, had been played. The Penguins won by the skin of their teeth, and that was basically the only reason that Sid had agreed to come out and talk to Jonny in the first place.

"Um, yes you would have." Jonny countered.

Sid raised an eyebrow at that and his infamous blank hockey mask of a face adapted a bemused look. "Tazer, no I wouldn't have, because it's stupid. You've been talking to this guy for months and you haven't even told him your last name?"

Jonny wanted to feel affront at Sid's tone, but he knew that Sid was right, this was stupid, possibly the stupidest thing ever until he said his next words.

"I think I love him." Jonny confessed, and it wasn't the first time that Jonny had thought that sentence out loud, but it was the first time he had told anyone else.

He looked up when air whooshed out of Sid in a deep sigh as he sat back in the booth.

"Well that does complicate things." Sid acknowledged.

Jonny nodded his head morosely. He picked at the remaining fries on his plate and imagined how he could have made this conversation go any easier.

"Have you thought about just coming clean?" Sid asked as he watched Jonny from his side of his booth.

"How would I do that? 'Um, yeah hey, Patrick, you know how we're kind of dating or whatever, and we've heard each other cum over the phone? Well I forgot to tell you that my last name is Toews, I play professional hockey, and I didn't want to tell you before because the last guy I dated used me for my money and I was afraid that you would be the same? Oh and I love you.'" Jonny surmised, and even to his ears it sounded crass and impersonal.

"Well maybe not like that." Sid reasoned, "And I kind of get why you thought I would do the same, but Jon, if you love this guy..." Sid trailed off as he looked at Jonny who was looking right back.

"If I loved him, I wouldn't have let it get this far." Jonny added, " Now all I can do is hurt him."

Sidney shook his head and shrugged like he had no idea what Jonny should do, and it occurred to Jonny that Sid was probably as clueless about what Jonny should do as he was.

"He's moving here in two weeks, and I'm going to break his heart."

Sid pushed the remainder of his fries over to Jonny's side of the table and Jonny truly appreciated the effort.

****

Moving day, or D-day as Jonny had been referring to it as, was high atop regret mountain for him.

Jonny knew the second that Patrick would get into town because he had been telling Jonny the exact time or roundabouts for the last several weeks. Jonny wanted to be there when he pulled into his new place, a small apartment near Thatcher Woods, just outside of Chicago, but Jonny had a game that night and mandatory morning skate.

He definitely wasn't avoiding Patrick, he had responded to all of Patrick's text that morning and after morning skate. Most of which were just variations of what Patrick was seeing on his drive and how bored he was.

So far, since Patrick had gotten into Illinois there had been no mention of seeing Jonny's face plastered on anything, or Patrick calling him freaking out about anything out of the ordinary.

"... It just doesn't make sense, what's it Superior too?" Patrick chirped over the phone. They had been having the 'Why is it called Lake Superior' conversation since Jonny had woken up from his pre-game nap.

"I don't know Patrick, maybe the other lakes." Jonny quipped back.

He was met with a contemplative silence and then, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

Jonny was so nervous for every new place that Patrick reported to him as he drove through Illinois. He wasn't at all prepared for a sudden pause and a 'Why is your face on a billboard repping the Illinois State lottery?' but it never came.

Eventually Jonny had to get off the phone and go to the rink. The game was in an hour and he didn't want to be late to warm-ups.

He told Patrick that he had to go, and he could just imagine the pout on the blonde’s face. "I wish I could see you right away." Patrick whined. "You're coming to the opening next week though, right?"

Patrick had only asked like a million times and each time, in spite of his traitorous heart trying to escape out of his throat, Jonny answered, "Yes, Patrick I wouldn't miss for the world.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." Patrick replied happily.

Jonny was so caught up in being happy that Patrick was happy that he responded, "Okay, love you." And hung up the phone.

He stared at it for a good two and a half minutes before he realized what he had done. Cue the freak out, cue the guilt, cue he was going to be late to warm-up.

****

The game against the Stars went about as well as one could hope for at the end of grueling season, with playoffs literally around the corner, and the Blackhawk's Captain's mind split between being on the ice, and back in his condo staring at his phone after saying 'Love you' for the first time to someone who was about to find out what a huge lying liar he was.

The game ended with the Stars putting in an Empty Netter that made the score five to two favoring the Stars.

No one was in the mood to go out or do anything really, but slink home and lick their proverbial wounds. Every once in a while Sharpy or Seabs would look over and be so concerned that it made Jonny wince. He must have really been out of it.

He continued in that daze until he left the locker room and was making his way down the basically empty corridors of the United Center. He was one of the last people out of the building after spending an hour riding his frustration out on the bikes.

He was just thinking about what he was going to do about Patrick when a figure at the doors of the UC caught his eye. He didn’t know who it was at first, but getting closer he could see those eyes set into a sad droop, that curly blond hair hanging listlessly under the edges of a toque, that mouth set into a frown, his Patrick was standing in the UC, and Jonny's heart stopped.

Patrick was watching him approach in his game suit, he probably looked pretty messy with his hair still a little wet from his perfunctory shower, he knew he had a blooming bruise on his cheek from where Jamie Benn had given him a love tap after Jonny had confronted the Captain of the opposing team for up ended Saader.

Jonny felt small in the presence of Patrick, he felt like he was wrong even though no words had been spoken yet.

"So, you play hockey for a living." Patrick said, but it wasn't a question, it was a straight up fact.

Jonny couldn't speak, the conversation that he had been dreading with everything he had was there and he couldn't say anything. That was alright because Patrick actually had a lot to say.

"Imagine my surprise, I was moving the last of the boxes in, grabbed a beer, and turned on the TV. Flipped through the channels and low-and-behold I see you." Patrick's back was straight and stiff, he looked so hurt, but he also looked like he wanted Jonny to hug him and tell him it wasn’t true; that the past five and a half months hadn't been, if not a lie, than the biggest omission of truth in history.

"You, Jonathan Toews, Captain of the Chicago Blackhawks." Patrick shifted a little pulling his arms up to hug himself. "What was it Jonny?" Patrick continued, saying his name like it was a curse instead of in the beautiful way his name had often rolled off of Patrick's tongue.

"What is it? Me? Was I not good enough?" Patrick's voice lost a little edge and Jonny watched as he curled in on himself a little more.

"No, Patrick-" That was the furthest thing from what Jonny thought, from what Jonny wanted Patrick to think.

"Then what?" Patrick shot back angrily, his voice reverberating in the near empty United Center. "Was all of it a lie? Was... Was ‘I love you’ a lie too?"

Jonny shook his head in shock, his bag dropping from his grip. He wanted nothing more than to run over to Patrick and tell him that no, it wasn't, he would never, but how could Patrick believe that?

"That's what you do, huh? Go to small place, with small people, and get to know them, make them feel like, yeah maybe it's real, and they give up a lot, and they do whatever, because they-" He broke off, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth, the same way that he did the night Jonny met him, but this time it was to stave off tears, not to stifle laughter.

"Do you tell them all you love them?" Patrick asked bitterly. "Is that your thing?"

Jonny opened his mouth to say something, to explain, but nothing came out. Patrick met his eyes blankly, like he'd already moved past the pain of finding out that someone that you at the very least liked had lied to you for so long; that someone that you loved broke your heart.

"Don't call me Jonny, don't text, don't show up places where you know I'll be, just... don't." Patrick pleaded with a hint of desperation. And then he turned and walked out of the UC and out of Jonny's life.

Broken hearts shattered all around.

****

Jonny did exactly as Patrick asked. He didn't call, he didn't text, and he didn't go to Cinema Take Two.

Everything within Jonny ached to see Patrick, to make him laugh again, to see his smile, but he ruined that, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Gratefully almost as soon as Jonny left his heart at the entrance to the UC on the night Patrick moved to Chicago, Jonny's mind had to be somewhere else.

Playoff season begun and even though he felt like absolute shit, having to hopefully spend the next few months battling for The Cup would take his mind off of things.

The Blackhawks had been the heavy favorites in the 2013-2014 season like they were now, but this year, everything seemed to be falling closer into place.

Their first opponents were the Predators. They came hard and fast, and they came with Shea Weber who had a slapshot that could end someone's life.

The Preds played hard, but the Hawks played harder, and before Jonny really knew what was happening, they were in the next round to face one of their division rivals, The Wild.

The Minnesota Wild weren't anyone’s idea of a shoe-in, but they had grit, and they played even harder than the Preds. That didn't stop the Hawks from Sweeping them in four games.

Next up were the Ducks, they were by far the biggest challenge the Hawks had faced in any series so far.

Before the start of the series, Jonny was struck with how long it had been since he had seen Patrick, it was only a few weeks since that terrible night, but it felt like forever. The team was tired but satisfied with what they had accomplished so far. They only had one more series to win, and they would be within striking distance of their chance to lift Lord Stanley once again.

Jonny, for all of the heartbreak that he was going through in his life outside of hockey, was actually serving to be the driving force behind the Hawks in the post-season. The locker room was full of series heroes and Jonny was just happy to be on this ride with them.

He found himself more often than not checking his phone for new and random texts from Patrick before he could remind himself that whatever they had was over now.

The series with The Ducks was dirty, as Jonny had expected it to be. They were an elite team whose sole focus was to get to The Cup that they hadn't lifted since '07; they wanted it. But Jonny and his team wanted it more.

The Hawks took The Ducks in seven games.

They were going to Stanley Cup Finals.

The atmosphere in the locker room after that game seven win against The Ducks was electric. Everyone could feel what their series win meant. The only people standing in the way between the Hawks and The Cup were the Lightning.

Jonny got home that night feeling like he was floating, not even the thought that all he wanted to do was call Patrick and tell him all about the game, was enough to dampen his spirits.

After wearing himself out with after game exercises, and having another post-workout shower, Jonny fell into bed with thoughts of lifting The Cup above his head once more. He went to set his alarm and saw that he had a message waiting for him on his phone.

He opened it and nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw that it was from Patrick.

Jonny cautiously opened the text and simply saw the words, 'Good job, I'm proud of you.' Sitting in Patrick's text spot that had been previously empty save for whatever Patrick had text him before he found out.

Jonny felt something shift in the vicinity of his heart. He screwed up, he knew that, but Patrick texted him when he told Jonny not to. Patrick texted him to tell him that he was proud.

Jonny sent back a simple. 'Thank you.' and then set his alarm.

It wasn't much, but it was something. It was something.

****

The 2015 Stanley Cup Finals were a time for Jonny to be alive. He thrived out on the ice with his teammates, his friends, and in the end they brought the Cup home in front of 20,000 screaming fans in the UC and a sea of loyal, ecstatic fans all around Chicago; all around the world.

Jonny shook Gary Bettmen's hand and lifted The Cup for the third time in six years, and nothing ever felt more right than seeing his team surround him and skate one-by-one for their moment with The Cup. It was all worth it.

And even though Jonny knew that he screwed up, when he played, he played for Patrick.

And now that it was all over, all he had to do, was get Patrick back.

****

A month of Jonny trying to figure out how to get Patrick back was spent brainstorming, avoiding Sharpy and Seabs and basically everyone's knowing looks, even though they didn't really know anything, and press and appearances with The Cup.

In between all of the things that Jonny had to do, days were punctuated with a smattering of texts from Patrick that were just off the cuff things that he thought Jonny needed to know. Jonny didn't care if Patrick sent him the days of the week every time he texted him. He was just glad that Patrick was texting him at all. He didn't break Patrick's request. He would always send back a 'Thank you' or an answer to questions like, 'Where's the best bakery in Chicago' and the like, but he didn't call or text without initiating first.

Before Jonny knew it, NHL awards were over, and his Cup Day was coming up in a couple of days. He decided to spend this year’s Cup Day in Chicago, and in doing so, there were actually a lot of places to take The Cup. He went to hospitals and fire stations and walked around The Loop for a while.

He didn't have a plan at all in place for how to get Patrick back, but as soon as he saw the sign for Cinema, Take Two, Jonny knew that he needed to go in and at least show Patrick The Cup. He really hoped that Patrick was working.

Jonny’s posse of fans and camera crew followed him right into the bar, which was really more of a bar and grill; more so than the Cinema in Buffalo anyway.

When Jonny stepped into the establishment, he couldn't stop his eyes from finding the most beautiful set in the whole place, if he wanted to.

Patrick's wide eyes caught Jonny's over The Stanley Cup, he glanced around like he didn't know what to do, but after a small shove from a blonde on Patrick's left, who looked so similar to Patrick that Jonny was sure had to be one of his sisters; Patrick stumbled forward out from behind the bar.

Jonny set The Cup down on one of the tables so people could get pictures with it, Phil the Cup Keeper would keep his eyes open, so no one would take off with it. Jonny was met with a few people who wanted autographs or pictures, but the majority just wanted to say congratulations.

Finally after what seemed like forever, everyone had had enough of him and went to go check out The Cup. That left Jonny to face the Curly haired Blue Eyed, gorgeous guy from behind the bar.

"So that's it?" Patrick asked. He had his arms crossed over his chest, but far from looking destroyed the way he had the last time Jonny saw him, he just looked content.

"Yep," Jonny replied, unintentionally popping his 'p' at the end of the word.

"And you won it." Patrick affirmed as his eyes met Jonny's. Neither of them could look away.

"Yeah, I did." Jonny replied a little awkwardly.

Patrick laughed a little at the thread of their conversation.

Jonny heard music.

"I was wondering, I saw this bar, Cinema Take Two, and it looked like a pretty cool place." Jonny started. He hoped with everything that he didn't leave out on the ice two months ago when he was lifting The Stanley Cup for the third time in six years, that he could manage this; just this. "My name’s Jonny Toews, I play for the Chicago Blackhawks." He stuck his hand out, praying to every deity that he knew that he could keep getting what he wanted.

Patrick stared at Jonny for a moment before his gaze dropped down to Jonny's hand. He shook it with the same callused palm and fingers that Jonny remembered.

"Patrick Kane, I own this joint." A cough from somewhere behind them caught their attention, "Co-own." Patrick corrected.

"It's nice to meet you." Jonny replied, and taking a chance he knew he had no business taking, Jonny pulled his hand back, not releasing his grip, until Patrick was flush against him.

If Patrick was startled by that turn of events, he didn't show it. His arms came up to encircle Jonny's neck, and Jonny's arms dropped down to Patrick's waist.

"You too." Patrick replied.

Jonny held still for a moment longer before slowly angling his head into Patrick's space, giving him an out if he wanted it, but it didn't seem like he did, as he slowly meet Jonny's lips.

The Stanley Cup gleamed a few feet away, but Jonny couldn't care less, the love of his life was right in front of him.

****

Epilogue

"Hey, Blue Eyes," Greeted Patrick as he slide another mixed drink down the bar.

He lifted his head expecting to have to tell whoever was blatantly hitting on him, under no uncertain terms, that he had a boyfriend and if wanted to go there, it was his funeral.

He was met with the smirking face of Patrick Sharp leaning heavily on the bar.

Patrick met his smirk with one of his own and grabbed a bottle of beer from underneath the bar. He slide it to Sharpy while asking, "What do you want Sharpy?"

After the fiasco that was Patrick being smitten with the creepy guy who helped him get cereal at two AM in a convenience store, creating a relationship with said creeper, falling head over heels in love with said creeper, moving to the middle of the country for more than one reason, but said creeper was high up on that list, finding out the said creeper was actually the famous Captain of a bunch assholes in the NHL, and making up with former creeper/current boyfriend; getting used to Jonny's friends had become old hat.

They really were a team full of assholes.

"Peekaboo, I am offended at the suggestion that I only seek you out when I want something." Sharpy actually did look kind of offended, but Patrick wasn't falling for it. He sent Sharpy an unamused look that he had picked up from Jonny somewhere along the way.

"Okay, alright. Enough with the laser eyes, God why did he even teach you that?" Sharpy asked rhetorically. "I just came over to ask if you had Friday free, because the girls want their favorite Uncle to come over for a playdate. You can even bring Captain Serious with ya."

"You know he hates when you call him that." Patrick remarked, reminding Sharpy for what felt like the millionth time.

"That's why I do it, it keeps him young," Sharpy quipped back sharing a honest smile with Patrick. "What do you say, Kaner?"

Patrick looked past Sharpy to see Jonny getting up from the booth in the back where a few other Blackhawks were hanging out, and for some reason his sister was back their talking to them too. He could see Jonny walking toward them and he smiled fondly over Sharpy's shoulder.

"I can't say no to my girls." Patrick answered.

Sharpy beamed at him pulling him halfway over the bar to give him a noogie. Sharpy knew that Patrick hated that too.

"Good man, Kaner good man. We'll see you Friday, come ready to get your nails painted." Sharpy swept away from the bar with that bit of information floating away in the air.

Patrick made a face at Jonny as he approached the bar trying to subtly fix his hair after Patrick Sharp got a hold of him.

Kaner was slowly learning that everything in his life was usually Patrick Sharp’s fault, if he listened to Jonny, he would think that everything on God’s green earth was Patrick Sharp’s fault.

"Hey, what was that about?" Jonny asked leaning across the bar to kiss Patrick's forehead and brush a curly strand of hair away from his face.

"We have a playdate with Maddie and Sadie Sharp on Friday." Patrick informed. Jonny smiled back at him, Patrick knew Jonny wouldn't mind spending some time during a day off to goof around with the Sharp girls. He loved them just as much as Patrick did.

"Cool," Patrick moved around the bar to settle next to Jonny, invading his space to rest his head on Jonny's shoulder. They stood together, Jonny running his thumb over the small of Patrick's back, and Patrick breathing gently onto Jonny's neck.

"Erica was talking about how you guys were thinking about expanding again." Jonny offered conversationally.

Patrick 'hm'd into Jonny's neck, glancing over at the booth in the back where his sister was enthralling Seabs, Sharpy, and whoever else was listening with a story that Patrick was sure was incredibly embarrassing for him.

"We were thinking New York, L.A., or maybe Portland." Patrick replied. "I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands when the season starts back up."

Jonny nodded in agreement as he bent down to kiss the top of Patrick's head getting a face full of curly blond hair.

"Where do you think would be good?" Patrick asked absentmindedly as they both stood in contentment to just be with each other.

"Well," Jonny started as he rested his head on Patrick's, "We met in Buffalo, you moved here to be with me in Chicago-" He nuzzled into Patrick's hair at the familiar protest that he was not the sole reason that Patrick and Erica decided to move Cinema Take Two to Chicago.

"I say," Jonny continued, ignoring Patrick's dramatic eye roll, and the small bite to his neck that was a little bit harder to ignore.

"International, baby. The only place left that's really important to us is Winnipeg." Jonny finished. He pulled Patrick closer to him so he could wrap his other arm around his waist, and Patrick could bury his face further into Jonny's neck.

"Canada?" Patrick asked with barely concealed interest. He was still a little caught on how Jonny said 'us' when talking about important places.

This was them; this was them together for the rest of everything.

And Jonny was so happy, because they both knew exactly who they were.

-fini-